A Distinct Diet

Concerning food there are many things that trip my trigger. As a child I was known to make various food products out of Play-doh and mud. Perhaps such behavior is not all that uncommon. But eating insects is less common…I think. My mom once ate an ant, which was swimming in her cereal, by accident. I, too, once ate an ant, but this ant was cooked in boiling water in a leaf over a candle, on purpose. To this day we both agree that ants are bitter tasting. But I know that they aren’t quite as bitter as birch tree leaves, though.

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I once ate an earthworm, in my adolescence, in front of a group of girls who, I am convinced, are still impressed to this day. My grandfather once willingly grilled a grasshopper for me to eat, but I chickened out. I consumed an uncooked grasshopper later that same day, in the field, because I felt that I had to reclaim manhood from my cowardly state. Chapulines (fried grasshoppers; see picture at left) are an Oaxacan (Southern Mexican) treat that I once had the opportunity to enjoy, they are very salty, but have a texture that is hard to match. Did you know that dandelions are edible?

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I have eaten insects and plants because I, in my youth, dreamed of living in the rainforest. And one must know how to eat what is around him in any environment. For some reason I still cannot get myself to eat Menudo (cow stomach soup), though.